


Give your Heart a Break

by dragoninthesnow



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-09
Updated: 2012-07-24
Packaged: 2017-11-09 12:28:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/455449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragoninthesnow/pseuds/dragoninthesnow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Percabeth fic.  It's from Annabeth's point of view, and Annabeth is in college.  Percy is a barista at Starbuck's.  This is them meeting each other and becoming best friends.  Other stuff ensues.  Little bits of Thaluke in here as well.</p><p>Title inspired by Demi Lovato.  I'm obsessed with that song, okay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Move to New York

San Francisco is a long way from New York City, so my first day in the Big Apple was rather terrifying. I’d been studying many of the buildings in the city for a while, but I was never able to see them in person. My dad and I had driven all the way from San Francisco, and it was probably the worst drive of my life. Google Maps told us 47 hours, but I knew we had to drive. I had too much stuff to move into my dorm.

I was going to be getting my Bachelor of Architecture, or “Barch” as some people apparently like to call it, from New York Institute of Technology. I was so excited. The program had so much acclaim, and I was going to be in the best city in the world to study architecture. When I was accepted, I danced around my room like a crazy person.

No one knew about that, though. I like to think of myself as a professional. My father always tells me I act too old for my age and that I should loosen up a bit. I always tell him, “All children grow up, Dad.” To which he always replies, “Except one.” I roll my eyes at him and continue cooking dinner – typical night at the Chase’s.

As we drove across the bridge onto Manhattan, my face was glued to the window and my mouth was hanging open. I could hear my dad laughing at me, but I was going to let him ruin my moment. It was going to be the best day of my life, moving into my dorm and starting orientation.

College. I couldn’t even imagine what it was going to be like. I knew I wasn’t going to be one of those crazy sorority girls – I was too mature for something like that. I was going to immerse myself in my studies and soak in absolutely everything I could. I was going to design the next big thing one day, so I had a lot of work to do.

-

My dad opened the door to my dorm room and immediately stopped. I ran into him.

“Dad, what the heck?” I asked. I peeked around him to see my dorm room. It was a good size, which was nice. I soon realized what had stopped my dad in his tracks – my roommate.

Half of the room was bare, ready for my to inhabit it. The other half of the room was full of black and purple punk… stuff. My mouth dropped, but my dad quickly turned around and shut it for me.

Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Hey, are you Annabeth? Is everything okay?”

“Yes! Yes, I’m Annabeth. Annabeth Chase, nice to meet you!” I said quickly, turning around to shake her hand. I soaked in the image of my roommate. She had spiky black hair and blue eyes, and the amount of make up on her face was ridiculous. However, she kind of pulled it off. She was edgy, and I had a feeling we were going to actually be pretty great roommates and maybe even friends.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Thalia Grace. I took this side, I hope that’s okay,” she said as she squeezed around my dad and me. She went inside, sat at her desk, and got on her computer.

I looked at my dad, and he looked at me. We both shrugged and started unpacking.

-

I was about to walk into orientation, which meant it was time for my dad to leave. I wasn’t going to cry; crying was for immature people. I was stronger than that. However, that was the closest I’ve ever been to crying.

“Make me proud, Annabeth. I know you will. Call me. You know, you don’t have to call me every day. Just. Call me when you can. I love you. You’re great. You’re –“

“Thanks, Dad. I love you, too,” I said. I leaned up, kissed him on the cheek, then turned and walked into orientation.

-

That night I was lying in bed, about to go to sleep, when Thalia walked in stumbling with a boy. I sat up quickly and turned on my lamp.

“Oh, sorry, Anna. Oh, Annabeth. Hey Luke, this is Annabeth,” Thalia managed to say. Luke smiled and waved, then moved to put Thalia on her bed.

“Sorry, this isn’t going to happen a lot. She’s told me all about you. She’s not very talkative, but she’s good at reading people. She wants to be your friend – don’t worry. I’m her boyfriend, by the way. Luke Castellan. Nice to meet you, Annabeth. Good luck in class tomorrow. We’ll hang out at lunch, here’s our numbers.”

I was so taken aback by what just happened that I just grabbed the post it with their numbers on it and smiled. He smiled back, kissed Thalia on the forehead, and then left.

-

The next day I woke up before Thalia, so I worked hard not to wake her up. I got ready for class, and then made my way to my first class.

As I walking on the street, I saw a Starbucks. I checked my watch and saw that I was going to be 30 minutes early to class. I suddenly was really embarrassed and raced into Starbucks, not wanting to seem too eager on the first day.

As I waited in line, I could hear the barista talking to everyone. His voice was nice, and he was talking to everyone like he had known each person forever. I couldn’t see him yet, and once I was first in line, my heart stopped.

He had sea green eyes that I immediately was drawn to. His hair was messy, and it was black. His skin was a good color, and he looked muscular. He smiled at me, and I had to put my hand on the counter to steady myself.

“Good morning! What can I get you today, dear?” He asked.

“Um, just coffee. A tall. Black. House blend,” I said. It sounded choppy, and I hated feeling so vulnerable. I straightened back up and found my balance again. I smiled back at him, and he did a double take.

“Pretty smile. It’s pretty early for a… 18-year-old? Yeah?” I nodded. “Pretty early for a girl like you to be up. Must be the first day of classes at NYIT. What’s your major?”

I was surprised at how accurate he was.

“Architecture,” was all I managed to say.

“Wow, that’s pretty cool. Good luck! Here’s your coffee… What’s your name?”

“Annabeth.”

“Nice to meet you, Annabeth. I’m Percy. I hope to see you in here again.”

I turned and walked out, already working on my plan to see him again. I guess this semester was going to be coffee filled.


	2. The Rave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This might be a mean place to stop, but I promise the next chapter will be absolutely awesome. There's some good Thaluke stuff in this chapter, too.

After a week, I was completely settled into the flow of college. My day proceeded like this – class, lunch with Thalia and Luke (who were surprisingly really awesome and nice to me), more class, dinner, running in Central Park, dinner, and homework. Sleep would come depending on how much homework I had. I was never really tired, though; I was good about getting a lot of sleep.

I also added something I considered possibly, maybe a little bit more than possibly, unnecessary to my to do list – coffee. I started my day every morning with a tall, black house blend from Starbucks. Percy served me every morning, and every morning he just smiled at me and made small talk.

The first weekend was coming up, though, and I didn’t know if I could show up on a Saturday morning without class afterwards and not look desperate to the point of ridiculous. I was upset about the weekend coming.

It was Friday night at about nine o’clock, and I had just finished my homework for Monday. I sat at my desk, thinking about what to do. Thalia wasn’t home; I knew I could text her if I really wanted something to do. Instead I grabbed a book off my shelf and sat down in bed, excited to catch up on some books I had been planning to read that summer.

Suddenly, Thalia burst in with shopping bags and a loud mouth, “Luke, you seriously spoil me. Thank you so much, babe,” she said. She put all the bags on her bed and came over to sit on the end of my bed.

“Um, hey, Thalia. Hey, Luke. Shopping spree?” I asked.

“Yeah! We bought you clothes for tonight, too,” Thalia replied, too giddy for my liking.

“For me too? Why? I feel terrible. Let me pay you back.” I walked over to my purse hanging on my desk chair.

“No, don’t worry about it. You won’t want to pay for these clothes anyway. You’re classier than them,” Luke said, smiling.

“Wow, thanks, boyfriend,” Thalia replied, glaring at him.

“You know I love you,” he replied, and he came over to kiss her on the cheek.

“Okay, okay. What’s going on?” I asked.

“We’re going to a rave tonight! It’s going to be so awesome. I bought you some clothes because I know you don’t own anything even halfway appropriate for a rave.”

I was speechless. I just smiled and nodded. I had no desire to go to a rave, but I didn’t want to disappoint Thalia. Thalia smiled back and started moving around, working on getting us both ready for the rave.

About an hour later, I looked into the mirror. My hair was teased, and I had a sparkly headband around my head. My clothes were neon, and I was wearing heels. Heels I could manage; heels were professional. I just wasn’t sure about dancing in heels, much less dancing.

Now, I will say, I practice dancing by myself in my room all the time, or I did when I was back home. I was secretly excited to practice what I thought were “good” dance moves.

Unfortunately, I was mistaken.

-

Thalia and Luke were looking at me like I was crazy. I had been dancing all night, and I decided I was just going to keep going. I knew it wasn’t perfect, but I was actually having a good time. I was letting loose; I never do that.

Thalia finally screamed at Luke over the music, “At least she’s having fun. We can teach her later.”

“Deal,” Luke replied, and they started dancing, too.

I giggled and danced, looking around at the people around me. No one was really looking at me, which I liked. I was blending into the crowd, able to just be me and dance like no one was watching. I felt so free. I was also really glad I finished my homework before I came out; that would’ve been bothering me if I hadn’t.

After I had been dancing for at least 30 minutes straight, I told Thalia I needed a drink of water. She told me there was a water fountain over my bathrooms, and I decided to take a chance and drink out of it.

As I made my way through the crowd, I stepped on someone’s toe with my heels.

“Ouch! Dammit,” I heard an all too familiar voice say.

I froze. I said sorry over my shoulder and moved forward, almost running through the crowd.

“Annabeth?” I heard him ask behind me. Suddenly I was hopeful. He knew my name. He recognized me.

I turned around and smiled.

“Percy? From the coffee shop?” I walked back over to him, hoping that he couldn’t see my shaking knees.

“Wow, I didn’t think to see an Architecture major like you in a place like this. How’s it going? Who are you here with?”

“I’m here with my roommate and her boyfriend. She’s right over there,” I pointed. “She’s really fun. I really like her; they’ve been really nice to me. I was really nervous I wasn’t going to have any friends at school because I’m really into my schoolwork, but they have been so awesome!” I realized I was rambling and shut up quickly.

He smiled and laughed. “I respect that. Hey, wanna get outta here?”

“And go where? I probably need to tell Thalia,” I said, and I glanced over towards them.

Percy suddenly tensed. He was looking behind me.

“No, it’ll be okay. You have your phone, right? Just text them.” He grabbed my hand (My heart flipped.) and started pulling me out of the room. We weaved through the dancing people and finally made it outside.

I was breaking hard; we had basically run out of the rave.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. He was looking back into the rave.

“Oh, yeah. Everything’s great. I wanna show you something, come on,” he said. He grabbed my hand again, and we started walking through Times Square.


	3. The First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is somewhat longer, but I think you'll enjoy it. I know everything seems rushed, but there's a method to my madness, I promise. Just trust me. I hope you trust me. :)

As he pulled my along through Times Square, I wasn’t even paying attention to where we were going. I was mostly looking at our interlocking hands, amazed that this was actually happening. This was the most amazing coincidence, and I had no idea why it was happening to me.

Suddenly, we took a sharp turn and started walking down a really scary alley.

“I don’t know how I feel about this,” I said as I finally starting paying attention to where this guy I knew for a week was taking me.

“I promise it’s worth it. I’ll keep you safe. Do you trust me?” He asked. He stopped and turned around.

“Um, yes?” I said, letting my uncertainty show a bit.

“You’re pretty cute when you’re worried. You’re not as tough as you look.”

“I- Um, okay?” I couldn’t form words. Who did this guy think he was? He’d known me for a week, and he didn’t even know me. Maybe he was good at reading people, but this was insane. I was worried, yes, but I also wanted to know everything about him. His past, his present, and what his future was going to be. I had to work hard not to ask him a thousand questions.

He turned around and started walking again. This time I was keep stride with him, and he was no longer pulling me. I had better balance, and I would consistently glance at him, the worried expression still plastered on my face.

“Here we are, let’s go,” he said. He turned into an abandoned building and pulled me along with him.

Immediately after we stepped in, I gasped. The architecture of the building was flawless. Columns were everywhere, and even though the building was semi falling apart, it was still some of the most beautiful artwork I’ve ever seen. I let go of Percy’s hand, reluctantly, and just stood. I started at the ceiling, the floors, the columns, the walls – everything. My mouth must have been hanging open because Percy came over and gently pushed my chin up.

“Well, that wasn’t what I was going to show you… but I guess I get a few points for that, right?” He laughed and grabbed my hand again, but this time he didn’t pull. He stood next to me.

I glanced over to him, down at our hands, then back up at him.

“Let me know when you’re done admiring the, um, building.”

I smiled and looked around the room some more, taking in each detail. The whole time I felt the warmth of his hand holding mine, and I knew nothing could be better than this moment. A boy was holding my hand, and I was looking at beautiful architecture. Man, was I a freak.

After what felt like hours, which probably was only minutes, I said, “Alright, I guess I’m done. I’d love to come back and sketch this place, though. Imagine what we could do if we fixed this place up. It could be such a beautiful office building, or a beautiful reception hall to have high class parties, or a beautiful place to do just… anything.”

“Well, Miss Ambition, let’s go see what I really wanted to show you.”

I let him pull me towards a back hallway, and we found an elevator. It was one of the elevators that the door had to be pulled open, and he started turning a crank to take us up. The elevator amazed me as well. I looked up and saw how far we had to go.

About 5 minutes later, we had reached the top. A few beads of sweat ran down Percy’s face, and out of instinct I reached over and wiped them away. He turned and looked at him, panting and smiling.

“Thanks,” he said, somewhat out of breath. My heart lurched. His voice was flawless. He looked his sea green eyes on me for an extra 2 seconds, and then turned to open the elevator.

We walked out into the room then took a sharp left turn towards a staircase. We went up the stairs and then out a door onto the roof of the building.

The roof was beautiful. There were bit statues on each corner, statues of people.

“What are the statues of?” I asked, walking over to one to look at the craftsmanship.

“I think they’re Greek gods, but don’t hold me to that. That one’s just holding a trident, so I only assumed Poseidon.”

“That one has an owl on her shoulder. Could be Athena,” I said. I turned and looked at him, excited that he knew about Ancient Greek stuff. I was a sucker for it.

“Well, if you come over here, I can show you something even more beautiful.”

I walked over to him, and he pointed out towards the Empire State Building. Two buildings next to this one were blocking most of the view, but if you stood in exactly the right place, you could see the entire Empire State Building from bottom to top. The lights were all on, and it was one of the most picturesque moments I’ve ever been in.

I turned and smiled at him. “You’re right. This is beautiful.”

He smiled and walked towards a shed that was also on the roof. He pulled out a key and unlocked the shed, pulling out two armchairs.

“Is this… your building?” I asked, confused why he had a key.

“No, I just put this lock on here. I found this building one day when I was, um, running. I just liked it so much, so I found these chairs and decided to store them here. It’s a great place to think, and I think it’ll be a great place to get to know someone.”

He sat down in one chair and patted the other one, which was placed right in front of his.

“Oh, really? You think? Have you never brought a girl up here before?”

He laughed. “No, I never trusted a girl enough to bring them here. But you’re… different.”

I blinked at him, and then moved to sit in the chair.

“So, tell me about Annabeth Chase.”

We talked for hours. I told him all about myself. I told him where I was from, about my father, my favorite things to do, why I love architecture so much, and how I was really an introvert because I like things my way. I told him about how I never really had that many friends, but the ones I did have were close to my heart and I would do anything for them. I explained why I loved Thalia and Luke so much; they never asked questions. They let me be me, and they loved hanging out with me just for that.

“I’ve also never had a boyfriend. I’ve never felt the right connection with anyone. I want my heart to stop when I meet him, and I want to feel like I’ve just created the greatest building in the world when he touches me.”

Percy placed his hand on my knee, and I gasped.

“You talk a lot. I love to listen. This is going to work out,” he said. Then he leaned forward and kissed me.

I was taken aback when he leaned forward, so for the first few seconds I simply sat there with my eyes open, starting at his closed eyes that were so close to mine. Then, I finally closed my eyes and leaned in slightly. I reached up and touched his cheek.

He pulled back and smiled. He looked over my shoulder and said, “Look, the sun’s coming up. I should probably take you home. Let’s go.”

He grabbed my hand to stand me up and put the chairs away. Once he locked the shed, he grabbed my hand again, and we held hands all the way back to my dorm room.

-

“Thanks for a great night, Annabeth,” he said. We were standing in front of the door to my room, and suddenly it flew open.

“Where the hell have you been?!” Thalia screamed as she opened the door. She stopped and stared at Percy.

“Oh. Sorry,” she recovered and slammed the door.

I laughed. “I should probably explain. I forgot to text her.”

“Speaking of which, let me get your number,” Percy asked. I gave it to him, and put his phone back into his pocket. He leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

“See you later,” he said, and he turned to walk away.

“Wait, I did all the talking tonight. You can’t always be the listener,” I said, amazed that I could actually use my words after he kissed me on the cheek.

“I’m not very good at talking about myself, but I can try. I feel like I can talk to you, so you’ll get my life story. Soon.”

I smiled and walked inside my room.

Thalia was standing right inside the door, staring at me.

“Who the hell was that?!” She asked.

“I’ll tell you when I wake up,” I said. I threw myself onto my bed and passed out immediately.


	4. The Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is where everything comes out. Also, I'm making Rachel Elizabeth Dare a "bad guy." I didn't know who else to use, and I figured this would be a great person to pick. I really like her in the books, I just needed someone to pick on. Don't get too mad at me - you'll probably hate her by the end of this chapter. So, warning.
> 
> Also, I'm throwing in Silena and Beckendorf. :) Mostly because they're the best. They're going to end up being a big part of the story.

Saturday was the longest day. I was again relieved that I had already finished my homework because I couldn’t focus on anything to save my life. Percy’s lips were all I could think about. And his eyes, his hair, his hands…

“Annabeth, you are seriously losing it. You’ve been reading that page for 15 minutes,” Thalia said. She had obviously noticed what happened to me, and she kept saying she was worried.

“I don’t trust him. It feels too much like a ploy to me, as adorable as it is.”

“Thalia, don’t worry about me. I’m a completely rational person; I’m not going to let this get out of hand. I’ve never had a boyfriend for a reason.”

Thalia grunted and rolled over, flipping pages in her textbook. That was her attempt at “studying.”

It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and I swear my phone battery was about to die from how many times I checked to see if I had a text message, phone call, or anything at all from him.

Finally, at about 5 o’clock that night, my phone went off. It was a text message from a number I didn’t have.

“Oh my gosh, it happened. Last night was real,” I said as I reached to grab my phone. Thalia laughed at me, but I was too focused to care.

I opened my phone and read, “Hey Annabeth. It’s Percy. Come over to Sbux? I think I’m ready to talk.”

I immediately jumped up and check myself in the mirror. I ran a brush through my hair and smiled, checking for anything in my teeth. I grabbed my toothbrush and brushed my teeth as well, just in case.

“Where are you going?” Thalia asked.

“Sbux.”

“Huh?”

“Starbucks. Come on, Thalia.”

“Just make sure you’re careful. You can take Luke with you if you need to. I can text him.”

“I’m going to be fine, Thalia. Really.” I grabbed my purse and stopped at the door. “Do I look okay?”

Thalia propped herself up on her elbows and looked at me, one eyebrow raised.

“You look fine. Keep your legs together.”

I gasped and glared at her. I turned around and stomped out.

As I walked down the street to Starbucks, I started to shake a bit. I wasn’t as nervous, though, because I knew he still wanted to talk to me after I had told him everything about me. He knew how strange I was, or rather I thought I was, and he still wanted to talk to me. I was different to him, and it was a different he liked. I felt appreciated; I felt like my personality and overall self were cared about. I had never felt that way other than with my father, and I was absolutely ecstatic.

I walked inside and scanned the coffee shop, suddenly nervous he wasn’t going to be there. He was there, though, sitting in a corner with a mug of coffee. When I walked in he saw me and smiled. He waved me over, and I tried to walk as coolly as possible over to him.

“Hi,” I said. It sounded stupid.

“Hey, did you sleep in?” Percy asked.

“No, I can’t really sleep past 9 o’clock. It’s a curse,” I replied. I sat down next to him and crossed my legs. When I did so, I was painfully aware of how close our legs were together. Percy must have noticed, too, though, because he shifted away from me.

My heart lurched, and I could feel sweat starting to drip down my back.

“Um, maybe we should go somewhere else,” Percy said. He glanced at the baristas working and stood up.

The baristas that were working were Silena Beauregard and Charles Beckendorf. We never called Charles by his first name, though; he was always Beckendorf. Silena was stunning, and Beckendorf was muscular. They had been together for 3 years now, and they were Percy’s best friends. I had gotten to know them the week before when I was coming in every morning. They noticed me coming in, and they had started calling me “A” and joking with me about always getting black coffee.

I guess that doesn’t mean that I truly knew them, but it sure felt like it. They were so nice to me, and I was curious as to why we couldn’t talk in front of them. Obviously they were the cause of Percy’s, um, anxiety? If that’s even the word that could describe him. At least I hoped it was them and not me.

“Uh, sure. Where do you want to go?” I asked. I stood up and put my purse back over my shoulder.

“We’ll go to your dorm, if that’s okay?” Percy asked.

I was taken aback by him inviting himself over, but I was also excited that he still wanted to hang out with me. That was in my territory as well, and I knew I’d feel comfortable there.

“Sure,” I said. We started walking out, and I pulled my phone out to text Thalia. I told her we were coming over and that I would really appreciate it if she wasn’t there when we got there. It was important. She replied with, “Ugh fine. But again, be careful. I know you’d do the same for Luke and me.” I smiled and slipped my phone back into my purse.

As I did that, we turned the corner onto the street my dorm was on. As we did that, Percy slipped his hand into mine and smiled at me.

“I’ll explain when we get to your room. Don’t worry. You did nothing wrong,” he said. I smiled back at him and started walking a little closer to him.

-

When we got to my room, I just sat down on my bed. He came over and sat down next to me. He was looking down at his hands, and I realized he really wasn’t lying when he said that he was bad at talking. He started tapping his foot. I reached forward and put my hand on his knee.

“Only talk to me if you feel like you can. I don’t want to push a boundary.”

“I want to talk to you. I’m just seriously really terrible at this,” he replied. He looked up and laughed, smiling at me.

“I can turn around and not look at you if you’d prefer that?” I asked.

“No way, here it goes. Basically, I just broke up with my girlfriend of two and a half years three days ago.”

I gasped and stood up. Thalia was right, I thought to myself. Now I’m just a rebound. I turned around and walked towards the door. I felt so stupid; I felt played. But before my mind could completely turn upside down, Percy turned me around.

“You are in no way a bounce back, er, a rebound. Annabeth, you have no idea how much fun I had with you. I feel so happy when I’m with you – a happiness unlike any other. I know we’ve known each other for a week, but I can’t explain it. You’re beautiful. You’re so different and special.

“I know the timing of our meeting is difficult, but it’s worth it. You are one of the most amazing girls I have ever met, and I know that’s not something to be taken lightly. I find myself thinking about you all the time, and I want this to be more than just something that happened one fateful Friday night.”

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t realize it until he was talking, but the whole time he was talking my smile was growing. I was smiling so big when he finished talking. I couldn’t stop looking into those sea green eyes of his that were seriously searing my heart.

“So, um, can I tell you more about what’s going on? I feel like you deserve to know everything,” he finally said.

“Oh, yeah. Yes. Please,” I stumbled. We went back to my bed and sat down.

“First, I need to do this.” He grabbed me and pulled me onto the bed next to him. He started kissing me, and we lay there for a few minutes, doing just that. Finally, he broke free and just stared at me. I smiled up at him, feeling embarrassed for some reason. He was holding me, and it felt… right.

“Okay, I’ll start talking now. Basically, we started dating and everything was great, my ex-girlfriend and I. Her name is Rachel. Rachel Elizabeth Dare. But after a few months, we started to kind of talk about breaking up. We just never really got around to it. It was so easy being with her, and it was familiar. Familiarity is what I always go for. Therefore, I never ended things with her. Even after… she cheated on me.”

I gasped.

“Twice.”

I gapped at him. “You were still with her after that?”

“Until 3 days ago, yes. I can’t believe it either. I just get into the flow of things, and I stay there. But over the past month, I’ve been really seeing how she doesn’t really fit into my life. Or rather, I don’t want her to fit into my life. We’ve been talking for about a week now through the break up. It’s just hard. She’s everywhere in my life, ya know?”

I didn’t really understand, but I wanted to.

"Well, I feel like if she's someone that was bringing you down and not letting you be all you want to be, she's not fitting in. Breaking up with her seems like it was the right choice," I said. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to say that, seeing as I was so utterly thrilled to be kissed by him last night. But I truly meant it. No one should be cheated on, especially twice.

He nodded and looked down at his hands again. "I just still feel different, without her here. She gave back a box of a bunch of stuff that I gave her today, and it was really hard. But I remembered my night with you, and I feel so strongly about spending time with you. I know it's not easy to understand where I'm coming from, but still. Ugh, I hate that I'm putting you through this. It's a hard situation." He grabbed my hands. "I just want to let you know that I wouldn't have done anything with you last night if I wasn't ready. I'm ready. I'm ready for this commitment."

"Percy, we've known each other for a week."

"Annabeth, you make me feel alive again - you make me feel like Percy Jackson."

I laughed. "Well, that's great. I'm so happy when I'm with you, too. I'm so glad I finished my homework before we went out on Friday night. You're such a distraction, and I never get distracted." He laughed, and I glared at him. "This is harder than it looks. I don't really open up to people, much less boys. Much less boys that I find myself ridiculously attracted to, so..."

"I understand, I'm sorry. Yeah, I understand that. And I want us to be completely open with each other. If Rachel ever says anything to me, I'll let you know. Oh, and about today at Sbux... Yeah, I'm not sure about telling Beckendorf and Silena yet. Beckendorf is like an older brother to me, and I know he was upset when I was flirting so much with you this past week. I know he'll come around, but I don't want anything getting back to Rachel so quickly. And I also don't want people to think you're a rebound. So we might need to keep it on the down low for at least a little while. But I do want to go public with you. I like you a lot."

"Silena and Beckendorf don't like me?" Percy laughed. I guess he couldn't believe that that's all I processed from that last statement. I cleared my throat. "Uh, and I like you, too. A lot, Percy. It's scary."

"First of all - they love you. They weren't really on Team Rachel. They're obsessed with you. And I know it's scary; it is for me, too. But you're worth it. One hundred percent."

I smiled again. This was happening. I was still nervous about it; two and a half years was a long time. But I was worth it, he said. And I thought he was worth it. If someone could distract me so much, that couldn't be taken lightly. I knew it was right.

"Now we just have to convince Thalia and Luke," I said. I giggled, and he tightened his grip around my waist.


	5. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a bad cliffhanger, but it'll be worth it. :)

I spent so much time at Starbucks the next week; it was insane.

But before Monday could even come along, there was Sunday. And before Sunday could come along, there was Saturday night.

Percy and I had fallen asleep, holding each other. It was a feeling unlike any other, and I still would pinch myself if I ever woke up. I couldn’t believe it was happening. Last night, the words he said to me, the feelings he confessed – they were all out of storybook. I felt like I was in a cheesy television show. No, I thought to myself. Don’t think that. This is real, and you’re going to let it happen to you. Stop being such a worrier.

At about 9 o’clock, Thalia opened the door to the room. I sleepily opened my eyes, but I had to quickly cover them as she turned on the light. She gasped and turned it back off immediately.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Can, can I come in? Can Luke come in?” She asked, opening the door to leave. I sat up, and Percy followed suit. However, he still had his arm around my waist. He didn’t want to let go of me; the feeling was mutual.

“Yes, yes. You’re fine. We just fell asleep, it’s alright,” I replied. I watched as Thalia poked her out the door, whispered something to Luke, and turned back inside. Luke followed her, smiling widely at me. He winked, and I blushed. Percy rubbed my hip with his thumb. I giggled and glared at Luke, playfully.

 

“Okay, let’s get to the chase. You have some explaining to do. I never want to…”

Percy interrupted Thalia. “She is everything I ever wanted in a girl. I know you don’t trust me now, but you will. I somehow was able to get worrywart over here to trust me. I think you show play follow the leader.”

Luke laughed. “I’m in. Come on, Thalia. Look how happy they are; they’re almost as cute as us. Hey, we’re going to my buddy’s house tonight; he has a wicked TV and tons of games – just a casual game night. Wanna join?”

Percy turned and looked at me. “It’s up to you, babe.”

“I, um, well, we would love to!” I said. I was still recovering from the word “babe.” No one had ever called me that before, but I liked it.

“Great! Count us in.”

“Awesome. We’ll leave in like an hour. You guys might want to grab something to eat first; who knows what the ‘snacks’ will be,” Luke said. He said snacks sarcastically, so Percy and I immediately stood up to leave. Percy walked outside, and I closed the door behind him really quickly.

“Thank you, guys. Trust me. He’s great,” I whispered.

“Just be careful, Annabeth,” Thalia said, but she smiled after. “I can tell he likes you a lot, and I can tell you like him. Even after knowing you for a week, I can tell you never do anything like this. I’m so proud of you.”

“Proud of me? Well, thanks, Thalia. Thanks, Luke. See you guys back here in an hour!”

I opened the door to see Percy standing there, looking confused.

“Girl talk. Plus Luke,” I said. He smiled and kissed me.

“Let’s eat.”

-

Dinner was quick; we decided to go to my dining hall. I swiped him in for a meal, and we just ate. He didn’t talk very much, as usual. I talked the whole time. I kept telling him more things about my life as they came up, and I would start rambling about some architecture stuff for about 5 minutes as well. He would just smile and nod, like who knew what I was talking about. He was always interested, though.

“You’re so not interested,” I’d say, and then I’d stuff my mouth.

“No, I’m totally interested. I want to be interested in everything you’re interested in, even if I don’t understand it. And you’re so cute when you get excited about something; you radiate,” he replied once.

Dinner was a great time, okay? Great. My level of worrying was going down even more, but I was excited to get out of NYIT and into the real world. He was mine now, and I was his. He was going to show me off… Right?

-

“Are you so ready for a good time?!” Luke asked as we walked into my dorm room.

“You know it!” Percy replied. He gave Luke a high five, and they started laughing. Thalia and I rolled our eyes at them and started laughing, too. This is going to be so much fun, I thought to myself.

-

When we walked into the part, I felt so confident. My hand was locked inside Percy’s, and he was not letting go. As soon as we walked in, a swarm of guys started staring at Thalia and me. I could see Luke tense; Percy’s grip tightened on my hand.

“I’m here with you, babe,” I whispered into his ear. I felt so silly saying “babe,” still hung up on the fact that we were using that word. He looked down at me, smiled, and kissed my nose.

“I like you,” he said.

“I like you, too.”

“Okay, you two, let’s go!” Thalia said. She ran inside, immediately found a beer, and cracked it open. I tensed. Drinking. I had never had a drop of alcohol in my body.

“Uh oh. You’ve never drank before,” Percy said. I looked at him, amazed that he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Don’t worry. We’ll start you out on something easy. I’ll see what they have.”

“Have you drunk before? How old are you anyway?” I felt completely stupid asking the question. I should have known that.

“If you would let me talk about myself, you might know the answer to that question,” he said jokingly. “I’m only nineteen, but I’ve been partying with Beckendorf for quite some time. Again, don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”

 

The first drink I ended up having was something mixed with vodka. I liked it; it was really bitter. He had tried quite a few really sweet drinks on me first, and I hadn’t liked any of them.

“What is this again?” I asked as I drank the last of it. “I really liked it.”

“Damn, girl. You really did like it, huh?” He said. “It’s a vodka tonic with lime.”

“My new, um… drink of choice?”

“That must be it! But I signed us up for the next game of beer pong; so hurry and finish your second one.”

He brought over another vodka tonic, and I looked at it gleefully. I was starting to lose feeling in my lips. They tingled. I bet it would be so fun to kiss him right now, I thought to myself. I strutted towards him, planted a big one on his lips, and pulled back.

“I was right,” I said. We walked towards the beer pong table, hand in hand, and he was smiling from ear to ear. He started to talking to a lot of people, introducing himself and me. We had to wait a few minutes for the table, so Percy sat down next to me on the couch. I put my head on his lap…

-

My eyes blasted open, and I was staring at a ceiling I’ve never seen before. I shot up and looked around. I instantly calmed when I saw Percy next to me. Panic set in again when I realized we were in a bed together, and I was no longer in my going out clothes. I was wearing a t-shirt that smelled like him and a pair of basketball shorts.

“Percy,” I whispered. He didn’t respond. I leaned down to him, pushed his hair behind his ear, and whispered again, “Percy.”

He groaned and turned onto his back, “Yes, ma’am?” He said. He smiled, but his eyes were still closed.

I suddenly sounded completely serious. “I want to know absolutely everything that happened last night, down to each and every juicy detail.”

Percy opened his eyes and sat up. He put his hand on my cheek and kissed me.

“We had an fabulous night, babe. Don’t worry.”

I was still worried, but I settled back into the bed next to him. I scooted close to him, and he put his arms around me.

“Are you ready to hear everything?” He asked.

“Totally.”


	6. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how I feel about this chapter. It's pretty short, but I needed to get it done. Sorry it took so long for me to update! I'll be updating faster now that I got that chapter out of the way. Next chapter will be great; Beckendorf and Silena make their debut! Get ready for it.

I totally was ready to hear everything, but I was also really nervous. I had no idea what I was like drunk; I’d never been drunk before. Before he started, I stopped it him.

“Wait, did I throw up?” I asked.

“Nope. Took all the alcohol like a champ. You’re awesome. We need to be pong partners more often; you can hit that last cup like no one I’ve ever met,” he replied. I had no idea what any of that meant, but I figured it was good. I smiled and told him to tell me the story.

“Well, I guess the last thing you remember is laying down on the couch? You passed out for like 5 minutes, and then I woke you up for our game. We played 7 games in row, kicking some serious ass. It was fantastic. All these people I’d never met before, and we were killing them. It was so cool. There was this one shot I made that was…”

I guess I was starting to look bored because he stopped himself.

“Right, that’s not as important. Well, we still had to drink quite a lot of beer. Some of the games were pretty close. I told you I’d drink most of it because I hadn’t drank that much, but you told me you wanted to drink your share. I’m telling you, you’re a great partner to have. So you were getting pretty drunk. Thalia kept coming over to check on you, and she’d glare at me. I kept telling her, ‘Don’t worry. I got her,’ but I don’t think she believed me.

“Once we lost that last game, you were ready to go home. I looked for Thalia and Luke, but they were busy. I got out your phone and texted them. I just told them that I was going to walk you home to my place and not to worry. I wasn’t going to do anything stupid.

“While we were walking out, you basically couldn’t take your hands off me.” I blushed. He smiled, and I nodded. Oh boy, I thought to myself.

“You were kissing me a lot. I guess you’re a, um, sexual drunk. You kept saying, ‘I like kissing you because my lips are numb,’ and I’d just kiss you back like a good boyfr- er, um, guy.”

We both tensed in that moment, but he moved on quickly. I remembered he wasn’t good with talking about his feelings, and I let him keep going. I wasn’t sure I was even ready for that conversation.

“When we got to my building, you were having trouble walking. It was adorable. I decided the easiest thing to do was carry you. So, I carried you up the stairs, took about 10 minutes to get the door unlocked to my apartment, and then put you down on my couch.

“You immediately recognized you were on the couch and told me not to be ridiculous. Apparently I should’ve known to put you in my bed.” He started laughing, and I blushed again.

“This is the most ridiculous story I’ve ever heard in my life. This is not who I am!” I replied.

“Annabeth, it was adorable. You’re a sexual drunk. Get over it,” he said. He kissed me, and I shut up. I looked at him, waiting anxiously for what came next.

“I had to get you into some different clothes, so I found these ones you have on now. You had trouble getting your clothes off, so I um, helped you take them off. You were so proud of me for not staring. I couldn’t believe it was happening; you were so open with me so quickly. Alcohol, man. The things it does.”

I glared at him.

“Right, keep going. You crawled into bed, laid down, spread your arms open and said, ‘Do what you want.’ I started laughing at you, and you leaned up and glared at me. You grabbed my shirt and pulled me towards you. After we kissed for a long time, you suddenly pulled away and said, ‘I like you.’ Then you turned over and passed out.”

I looked at him, expecting more. “That’s it?” I asked.

“Yup. You passed out and woke up next to me. I had a hard time falling asleep. I couldn’t stop looking at you. Your drunken, sleeping face was priceless,” he replied. He tapped my nose with his finger and started laughing. I playfully hit him on the shoulder.

“You’re so mean!” I yelled at him. He kept laughing and rolled on top of me, tickling me as he did it. I was laughing, too, and struggling under him. He then cupped my cheek with his hand.

“I like you, too, Annabeth. I’m so happy when I’m with you.”

I looked deep into his sea green eyes. “I want to do spontaneous and crazy things when I’m with you. I can’t decide if that’s a terrible or a fantastic thing, but I’m totally okay with it.”

He laughed at me, and then he kissed me. His lips on my lips felt perfect. He had soft lips moved over mine perfectly. His tongue would sometimes rub against mine. I bit his lip and pulled slightly, causing his back to arch. I ran my hands down his back and through his hair, and he melted, pushing his body against mine. I moved my body as well, trying to get our bodies touching in as many places as possible. I didn’t want to leave this moment. I didn’t want to get away from this day; it was perfect. Waking up next to him, even not remembering how I got there, had been the best morning of my life. I felt alive; I felt like a girl.

Sometimes I would find myself feeling like a robot in life; school, eat, sleep. School, eat, sleep. With Percy, there was a time when I could be Annabeth and really live. He opened something inside of me that I never knew I could access, and it was the most perfect feeling in the world.

-

The rest of the day was a blur. We stayed in Percy’s bed for at least 3 more hours, talking and getting to know each other even more. I learned about Percy’s love for horses, his love the ocean, and his love for blue foods. Percy learned more about my love for architecture, my love for owls, and my love for organization.

After we were in the bed for so long, I decided I actually needed to check my phone and see what the rest of the world was doing. I had 3 missed calls from Thalia and a voicemail that told me to, “Call her, or else.”

“Hey, Thalia. It’s okay, don’t worry. I’m fine,” I said when she answered the phone.

“Good. Be good,” she said and hung up. I looked at my phone.

“Well, what’d she say?” Percy asked. He got up out of the bed. He didn’t have a shirt on, and my heart stopped for a minute. His arms were so perfect, and his chest was so attractive. I smiled at him and walked towards him. I placed my hands on his chest then ran them down his arms.

“She said be good. I don’t think I want to be good,” I said. I couldn’t believe I said it, but I couldn’t help myself. “Your skin is so soft. I don’t want to stop touching you. How did you do this to me?”

“I have no idea, but I’m so glad I did.” He leaned down and kissed me.

“Let’s go get some food, babe. I’ll take you by your dorm room first; you need some other clothes.”

“Sounds like a plan to me, babe.”


End file.
